According to Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea have joined teams like Newcastle United, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur in the race to sign defender Tosin Adarabioyo.
Tosin Adarabioyo is currently playing for Fulham but his contract expires at the end of this season and the centre-back is not going to sign a new deal. Now, in a world where teams are €70-80 million on quality defenders, a central defender is rarely available as a free agent so the hype is understandable.
The centre-back played in 8 games for Man City from 2015 to 2018 before leaving and then after moving through West Brom and Blackburn Rovers, the English defender joined Fulham in 2020.
In these four seasons, Tosin has been a consistent performer for the Cottagers and this season, he has featured in 25 games across all competitions. In the league, he has been dribbled past just 9 times and he’s made as many as 43 recoveries. He’s also very good in aerial battles as he’s won almost 70% of such duels and in 20 appearances, the defender has picked up only two yellow cards.
Chelsea will lose Thiago Silva in the summer so they will need to bring in a replacement and someone like Adarabioyo has all the attributes of being a success at Stamford Bridge.
However, the Blues have a serious fight on their hands because Liverpool and Spurs are also planning to approach the player’s representatives and with so many elite clubs interested in signing him, the 26-year-old will take his time before deciding his next move.
Apart from these Premier League clubs, AC Milan have also been linked with the Fulham defender.
He won’t cost a dime in transfer fees so any club that wishes to sign Tosin Adarabioyo will have to offer him two major things. Firstly, he will need a guarantee of regular starts every matchweek and then he will demand a lucrative salary.
As per reports, the defender currently earns £47,000 per week at Fulham but he will look to significantly his wages next season. Paying around £80,000-90,000 per week should not be a problem for Chelsea or Liverpool but it’s Spurs who can offer him the money and also the game time.
If Tottenham remain in Europe, they will play close to 50 games next season and with just Romero and Van de Ven as their two constant centre-backs, a player like Tosin Adarabioyo can get a good amount of games.
